Book Reviews & Thoughts

Crossing the Line – Meghan Rogers

Synopsis

If Jason Bourne were a teenaged girl…

Jocelyn Steely was kidnapped as a child and raised in North Korea as a spy. When her agency sends her to the U.S. to infiltrate the very group her parents once worked for, Jocelyn jumps at the chance to turn double agent and finish off her kidnappers once and for all. She convinces the head of the American spy agency to trust her, but it’s not quite as simple as that: Jocelyn has to fight the withdrawal symptoms from the drug that the North Koreans used to keep her in line, and her new fellow spies refuse to trust their former adversary. Worst of all, there might be some new information to uncover about her parents – if she even wants to find out.

This action-packed spy thriller is part Gallagher Girls, part Alex Rider, and part Bourne Identity.

Review

This was interesting! The story caught my attention right from the beginning, and I found myself drawn to it time and time again. I wanted to know what was next; what would happen to these people.

But at the same time… I finished it feeling like I didn’t know the characters that well. Jocelyn has a lot of struggles, but pretty much all the other characters are defined for their feelings towards her. They either love her or hate her, and that is seemingly all that matters.

The story ends in a cliffhanger, yet I’m not sure I care enough about these characters to WANT to read the next instalment. I wish we got more upfront — more about Jocelyn’s parents, more chemistry with Travis (let’s be real, there’s no way this isn’t happening), more action against KATO. It’s hard to understand how Jocelyn wasn’t totally brainwashed by them either. They taught her for more of her formative years! How could she switch allegiances so easily? I get that she’s depicted as “not having a choice,” that they kept her by lording over her basic needs. But why suddenly feel determined to change NOW? What’s so different NOW? Those are little niggling things at the back of my mind while reading this book. Technically, it was a strong story all around. It just needed a little more finesse.